LThe Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced Monday that it had discovered CS riot tear gas in samples provided by Ukraine, in contravention of its convention on the use of chemical weapons.
“The results of the analyzes of these samples carried out by two laboratories designated by the OPCW, separately and independently of each other, indicate that the grenade found in the trench and the soil sample taken (…) next to it contained the riot control agent 2-chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile, known as CS,” the OPCW said in a statement.
The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the use of riot control agents, including CS gas, “as means of warfare.”
This is the first time the use of riot gas has been confirmed in areas where fighting is taking place in Ukraine, the OPCW said.
Ukraine asked The Hague-based OPCW to send a technical assistance team and handed over three samples during a visit last month, the OPCW said.
Ukraine said the samples were taken on September 20 near the village of Illinka in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region.
“The team collected documents and related digital files as well as testimonies from first-hand witnesses and also received three samples taken by Ukraine: one from a grenade and two soil samples from a trench,” said the OPCW.
The documentation and evidence provided by Ukraine to the OPCW team during the visit allowed it to “corroborate (…) that the chain of custody of the three samples taken from a trench in Ukraine located along the lines confrontation with opposing troops was maintained,” the OPCW said.
The OPCW stressed that its report “did not seek to identify the source or origin of the toxic chemical.”
The United Kingdom and the United States have previously accused Russia of using the toxic agent chloropicrin as well as riot control agents against Ukrainian troops in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of using chemical weapons.
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